Our network of schools for working children across Pakistan celebrated the arrival of spring by sowing seeds and planting herbs. Teachers walked the students through the hands-on activity, providing them with small pots, soil, seeds and spray bottles. Teachers explained the lifecycle of a plant to the children through colourful charts to encourage an interest in gardening. The activity was integrated into the Science and Urdu classes which helped make everyday classroom learning more interactive and relevant.

This month we bring to you the results of this student plantation activity: the resulting healthy, student-grown plants being shown off by the proud students who were thrilled to have successfully grown sunflowers, onions, garlic, mint and coriander. 
 
The students were excited about the progress of their plants and were happy to nurture them as they grew. They learned how to list, describe and identify plant parts as well as compare and contrast changes in root and stem functions. They responded well to the responsibility of "owning" a plant and were seen to be excited just taking turns to water their plants. 

Afterwards, the children wrote down their observations and drew pictures of their sprouting plants to sketch out their life cycle. Overall, it was great to see the children take ownership of their plants – it made the educational activity more fun and real for all involved.